Is it me, or did it look like NO cheftestant really wanted to win a chance to compete in the actual Bocuse d'Or, the "Olympics" of the culinary world, after the mentally and physically exhausting elimination challenge of this episode which was a mini Bocuse d'Or.
Blank expressions. No smiles. No nothing.
I seriously think it was one of my Top Five favorite "Top Chef" moments. I can't stop laughing.
Maybe it was the editing, but when God, uh, I mean AMERICA'S BEST CHEF, EVER, Thomas Keller told the chefs about their "prize" - hey, guys you'll get a chance to be on Team USA for Bocuse d'Or in 2011 if you win tonight! - it looked like they were just told they'd be eating dirt sandwiches as the next challenge.
Real fast: Name members of Team USA for Bocuse d'Or? Crickets, right? Yep, that's what I thought.
So one of the guest tasters was Keller. Chefs generally worship the ground Keller walks on. (Kev says Keller changed his life.) And his cookbooks are amazing. (Though I did once eat and write about a Keller frozen lobster mac and cheese dinner that wasn't so amazing. It was a frozen flop.)
But it seems pretty apparent that not everyone is drinking the Keller Kool-aid when it comes to his interest in competing in intense international culinary competitions. Especially since they are - hello! - already in the middle of an intense culinary competition, albeit one on TV with annoying people like Robin, who was thankfully shown the door last week.
These chefs know that fun and games doesn't necessarily bring home the bacon. So look here, Keller, just send one of your own nerdy boys to Bocuse. What these hungry Top Chef contestants really want as a prize is another 30 grand. (Did you see how excited everyone got when Tom told them that MONEY was being given out?) Or at least, Keller, give 'em a dinner reservation at French Laundry, for crying out loud.
Still, all in all, it was a pretty cool competition tonight. Can't imagine trying to impress Keller - who really didn't seem at all impressed with what he was eating - along with Son of Bocuse and Daniel Boulud.
Good stuff? No Toby this episode. Woo-hoo. Is his 15 minutes over yet??
Great stuff? Tom's frowny faces were working overtime! I just love that my favorite Baldie shows every single emotion he's feeling. Hilarious when he was trying to keep a straight face listening to Kevin (Young Santa!) describe how he was doing sous vide lamb.
Other great stuff? Jen makes a huge comeback on the quickfire challenge and wins over Mean Boy Michael. (Go Jen!)
I've had just about enough of Michael and his ego. And bitter older bro Bryan, tho a little more likable, is so desperate for attention - Mommy, uh, I mean Padma, pay attention to me! - that I have no desire to see him win. (But what was UP with that silvery belt Bryan was looping through his pants in the opening scenes? Bryan is Vegas bringing out your inner Liberace?)
So a bone in Michael's dish causes him to choke - with the judges - but his style keeps him in the game. Everyone wonders if Kevin is too simple? (His food, his food.) But simple is as simple does and he takes home the win (again) this week. I think the silvery rosary he's sporting under his chef's jacket has something to do with it. Because, you know, he has God on his side. And I don't mean Keller.
Jen is still a little too shaky and Bryan's techniques aren't quite techny enough. But Eli's big pieces of fat and undercooked lamb grosses out Son of Bocuse. Padma pulls no punches and says it's the "worst" dish of the day.
And that's never good news.
Eli phone home. It's past your bedtime. Night. Night.